1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing equipment, wherein the sample such as that of the cardiomyocytes is subjected to the stimulus so that the change in the fluorescene with time can be measured at a high time resolution.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the conventional image pick up method using the television camera, the sample is subjected to an uninterrupted light from the continuously lit light source lamp; the time resolution for obtaining the data cannot be made higher than 1/30 sec, which is the time required for 1 frame, and thus no higher time resolution is not available, so that the data reflecting the change with the time corresponding to the duration of the stimulus cannot be obtained, since the device to give the stimulus to the sample cannot be synchronized with (the television camera); and, for example the change in Ca.sup.2+ concentration resulting from the contraction of the cardiomyocyte can be measured by the intensity of the fluorescence of the reagent loaded in the cells, but the process (of the change in the Ca.sup.2+ concentration cannot be observed in details by the conventional method using the television camera, since the contraction of the heart occurs at the rate in the order of milli-second.
There is another method using the photomultiplier tube instead of the television camera, wherein the fluorescence at a point within the visual field of the microscope or the fluorescence of many samples put in the cuvette is measured. This method using the photomultiplier enables as to measure the intensity of the fluorescence at a high time resolution, but the two-dimensional analysis of the fluorescence of the sample is not possible due to the spot detection.
The object of the present invention is to provide an equipment capable of two-dimensionally analyzing the change in the fluorescence at a time resolution such as the milli-second or less order.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an equipment capable of two-dimensionally analyzing the change in the shape of a single cardiomyocyte due to its contraction and the dynamic behavior of the intracellular Ca.sup.2+ concentration at a time by combining a fluorescence microscope with a television camera.
The objects and other characteristics of the present invention will be described hereunder.